


You're gonna blow my cover, Mom.

by ToxicPineapple



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: And Who Love Him, Angst, By the nature of this being a Maki-centered fic, Canon-Typical sad backstory stuff, Christmas, Enemies to Friends, Fluff, Gen, Good Parents Who He Loves, Healthy Relationships, Holiday break, Holidays, Light Angst, My dumbass "Kokichi has parents" headcanon, Non-Despair AU, Sort Of, Winter, budding friendship, just mentioned, more specifically - Freeform, nothing intense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-10-01 21:31:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20411452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToxicPineapple/pseuds/ToxicPineapple
Summary: Miu and Korekiyo, she understands, are spending the holidays together. She hates both of them but their company would be much more tolerable than the sickness she’s probably going to get for being outside in the middle of winter for two weeks.She doesn’t have very much money on her but she could probably afford to take the subway back to Hope’s Peak. Or she could just walk again, but that’ll take a while. Whatever. It’s not like she has anywhere else to go. Even though Maki is wary of sitting down anywhere, she ends up plopping herself down on the curb in front of one of the houses and taking off her backpack to find her wallet, deciding that now’s a pretty good time to figure out if she has enough yen to hop on the subway. Maki pulls out her wallet and opens it up, beginning to search through it.“Harukawa?”---Maki doesn't have anywhere to go for the holidays, and ends up in front of Kokichi's house by pure coincidence, but it doesn't go as poorly as expected.





	You're gonna blow my cover, Mom.

Maki’s tongue pokes out from between her lips but she stops before she can moisten them because the chilly morning air is liable to make her saliva freeze on her face. The reason she even went to lick her lips in the first place is that they’re dry and cracked- have been since she left Hope’s Peak for the holidays- and she knows that licking them will just make things worse. She can’t really help it, though. It just happens compulsively.

She adjusts the ratty brown backpack that’s hanging over her shoulder by its one remaining strap. It’s not like there’s very much in it, just a tooth brush and a few cereal bars that she still has left from the dining hall at school. By tomorrow afternoon, she’ll be all out, and then she’ll have to figure out some way to get food, but for now she considers herself to be pretty well-stocked. It just, sucks, living on cereal bars again, after spending several months getting used to the well-cooked meals Kirumi is always making at school. Whatever. The holiday break will be over soon enough, and then she won’t have to worry about it anymore until spring time.

The holidays have always been a difficult time for Maki, even before she left the orphanage. Back when she was younger some of the volunteers at the orphanage would always take her and the other older kids out on a field trip into the busier part of town so they could see the ways in which the city was beginning to celebrate Christmas, and the approaching new year. She’d usually look forward to the trips, because it wasn’t often that they really got to leave the orphanage, but there was always the part of being downtown that meant they’d be seeing other kids their age. Kids who weren’t orphans, who had moms and dads and people walking down the sidewalk with their hands linked together. The air was always full of music and laughter and celebration. Happiness. Love. Things Maki always felt unfamiliar with.

But now that she’s no longer living in the orphanage, or even working with the cult that abducted her, Maki doesn’t really has anywhere to go. When she left school earlier this week, she decided to make the trip back to the orphanage and see if she could stay there for a while, but on foot it took her longer than she anticipated. Sleeping outside in the cold too has been difficult so the nights have dragged on as though submerged in maple syrup. Just this morning she arrived in front of it, the place where she spent so many years growing up and taking care of the younger kids, but as soon as she saw the front gates, her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of the silver tinsel they had strung up, and she knew she wasn’t strong enough to walk in.

So now Maki’s just been wandering around for several hours. She could probably make her way back to the orphanage if she really wanted to, but she doesn’t. She doesn’t think that she could stomach it. As much as it’s cold, and she’s tired, she figures it’s a good idea to just keep walking. At the moment she’s in a fairly residential area, and if she stops to take a seat she’ll probably be accused of loitering.

It’s whatever. She’ll come across a park or something eventually and go to sleep on a park bench. Thankfully she managed to get a pretty good winter jacket this year, so she’s not freezing to death. And sure, she doesn’t really have a scarf, or gloves, or even proper winter boots, but her hair is long enough that it could probably do  _ one  _ of those things. (Maybe not the boots thing, though.)

Really, Maki knows she’s being stupid. She’s definitely going to get sick eventually, it’s cold enough outside. She should just swallow her pride and go back to the orphanage. Better yet, she should’ve just stayed back at school. It’s not against the rules for students to stay during the holidays. Miu and Korekiyo, she understands, are spending the holidays together. She hates both of them but their company would be much more tolerable than the sickness she’s probably going to get for being outside in the middle of winter for two weeks.

She doesn’t have very much money on her but she could probably afford to take the subway back to Hope’s Peak. Or she could just walk again, but that’ll take a while. Whatever. It’s not like she has anywhere else to go. Even though Maki is wary of sitting down anywhere, she ends up plopping herself down on the curb in front of one of the houses and taking off her backpack to find her wallet, deciding that now’s a pretty good time to figure out if she has enough yen to hop on the subway. She’s probably not in her best physical state to risk stealing any money at the moment, so she’ll have to make do. Maki pulls out her wallet and opens it up, beginning to search through it.

“Harukawa?” A voice pipes up from behind her and she startles, dropping her wallet and fumbling at her hip for a weapon that’s not there as she flips around on instinct. When she meets Kokichi’s amethyst eyes, though, she falters, startled to the point that she feels thoroughly disarmed as she takes a moment to look at him and wonder why he’s there. He’s never talked about his home life before, of course, so she has no idea really where he would go during the holidays. She just knows that he didn’t stay back at the school during the break, apparently because he was to “use the time out of school to conquer more European micronations with his subordinates in his super evil secret organisation”.

But the way that he looks now, it seems as though she’s taken a seat right in front of his house. Which is, if she’s being honest, pretty mortifying. Kokichi is wearing a large grey sweatshirt, the type someone would wear to bed, and a pair of plaid pajama pants. He’s standing a few feet away from the front steps of the house but he’s wearing slippers rather than actual shoes which implied he just stepped out rather than anything else. His expression, for once, is pretty easy to read- he just looks surprised, actually, and a little concerned. When Maki meets his eyes, though, his features shift slightly, perhaps to mask the concern.

“What are you doing here? It’s Christmas Eve, don’t you have mall Santas to be murdering?” Kokichi gives her a strange version of his normal smirk and Maki sighs, getting to her feet and shoving her wallet back into her backpack.

“Is this your house?” She asks, in lieu of answering his question, and avoids his gaze as she zips up her backpack and swings it over her shoulder. “I’m sorry if I’m intruding or anything, I didn’t mean to loiter, I was just checking something.”

“Nope, this house used to belong to a family called the Takadas, but then I tortured and killed all four of them and took their property.” Kokichi laughs, but walks over anyway. “Funny coincidence that you’d be here too, though. Are you just touring Japan or something? Christmas Eve is kinda a stupid time to be doing it, huh? I’d figure even a killer like you would have somewhere to be.”

Maki frowns, looking back over at Kokichi so that she can glare at him. She’s used to the cracks about her status as an assassin but for some reason, today, it stings especially. Maybe because she really  _ doesn’t  _ have anywhere to go. And he’s right that it’s Christmas Eve. Not that Maki is particularly religious, but it still sucks that she doesn’t have anyone to celebrate it with. The truth is, Kaito and Kaede both invited her over to their homes for the holidays, but she rejected them. Maybe because she just didn’t want either of them to pity her. That doesn’t really matter anymore, though. She’s obviously not with them today.

  
“...do you have anywhere to be?” Kokichi asks, as though a little unnerved by her lack of a response. “Y’know, there’s this weird rule about conversations that says that both people participating in the conversation actually have to talk for it to be-”

“I don’t have anywhere to be today, alright?” Maki snaps, cutting him off. “My old orphanage is nearby here, and I thought I’d go visit them or something, but then that fell through, so now I’m just going to walk back and take the subway to Hope’s Peak so I don’t freeze to death.” She turns away so she can’t see Kokichi’s expression. “Are you done? Can I go now?”

Just as Kokichi is about to respond, the front door to the house opens, and a woman steps out. She looks to be fairly young, but she’s old enough to be a parent of someone Maki’s age. (Or Kokichi’s.) Her hair is dark, tied out of her face in a ponytail, but the ends look bright purple when she steps into the light. She looks quite a lot like Kokichi, actually. Maki would guess that she’s his mother, based on the way her eyes immediately find him, standing in the yard. She looks curious, but a moment later her expression softens and she smiles, moving forward.

“I wondered why it was taking so long for you to check the mailbox,” the woman teases as she stops at Kokichi’s side, a hand falling on his shoulder. He pouts at her, but she’s not looking at her son; rather, her eyes, so similar to Kokichi’s in appearance yet so startlingly genuine, settle on Maki. She doesn’t appear angry, or hostile, in any way. Merely a bit curious. “Is this a friend of yours?”

Tightening her grip on her backpack strap, Maki opens her mouth and prepares to say that no, she isn’t Kokichi’s friend, she’s here on accident and she’ll be on her way now. She’d rather say it first before Kokichi makes something up about how she’s an assassin and here to kill them, or whatever else he’s planning on- “I’m not out here for the mail, menial tasks like that are beneath me as a supreme leader,” Kokichi rolls his eyes, as though this is something he needs to remind his mother of rather frequently. Still, he kisses the back of her hand (???) before stepping away and checking the mailbox. “It’s a holiday, Mom, I told you there wouldn’t be anything,” he adds, more seriously. “But yeah, this is Maki Harukawa, she’s a friend from school.”

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that,” despite the fact that Maki’s brain short circuits when Kokichi calls her his friend, Kokichi’s mother is smiling at her, gaze softer than any adult’s has ever been while fixed on her. “It’s good that you’re making friends with more people than just the kids on the block.”

“Uh, I think you mean the subordinates in my evil organisation,” Kokichi rolls his eyes, closing the mailbox. “You’re gonna blow my cover, Mom.”

“You look cold, dear, how long have you been sitting out here before my son came out?” Kokichi’s mother ignores him, which is actually funny enough to make Maki snort, but she ignores the strangeness of the situation in an attempt to clear the fogginess from her brain and prepare some sort of a real response. She can’t be too honest about what she was doing- this is already awkward enough- but she has to say something that seems realistic. She’s never really been a very good liar, though. Hostility is generally the way she gets people to believe what she says. And somehow she doesn’t think that being hostile towards Kokichi’s mom isn’t going to work out too well for her. (Especially with the supreme leader in question standing right here.)

“Nevermind that, of course she’s cold, it’s winter and she’s a dummy who forgot her gloves and scarf.” Kokichi huffs, crossing his arms. “Not my fault her phone died and she couldn’t text me to tell me she’s here. By the way, I meant to ask but I forgot, can she join everyone for the celebration tonight and tomorrow?” What is he talking about? Maki doesn’t  _ have  _ a cell phone, nor does she have gloves, or a scarf- she wouldn’t have texted to tell him she was here even if she did have a phone because she didn’t know this is his house, and this is Kokichi she’s talking about here. Pretty much the last person she’d ever trust in a moment of need.

“Is she a new member of your group?” Kokichi’s mother inquires. “You’ve never invited a school friend to Christmas dinner before.”   
  


“Stupid people at school have these weird ideas about being good and having morals and whatever, so no, she’s not in my group. Yet,” he adds, giving Maki a grin that implies it’s a conversation they’ve had before, even though he’s literally never once talked to her about his group individually, except to say that they’d kill her family (haha) if she ever crosses him.

She’s still not sure what Kokichi is doing, but Maki figures she should probably play along, so she crosses her arms and glares at the ground. Something she does best. “I’m not going to join a group I know nothing about. Especially not one that’s supposedly taken control over the city through an undergrown network of criminals.”

“See, that’s lies and slander,” Kokichi points out. “I was the one that took control of the city. My underlings just commentated the whole time.”

At this, Kokichi’s mom laughs. “Right, okay.” She gives Maki a knowing look, smiling patiently. “My son is very creative. I keep telling him he should be a writer, but he insists it’s not evil enough.” Kokichi makes a face, like he’s going to complain, but his mother just continues. “If you’re here for the celebration, though, come on in. Everyone’s set up their sleeping bags and all that in Kokichi’s room downstairs, so you’re welcome to join them down there.” She turns, as though to walk back in the house, but glances at the supreme leader, pausing before she mounts the front steps. “Umeko’s awake and hungry, sweetie, if you want to make some breakfast after you two come in.”

“What?” Kokichi pouts. “What’s Dad doing? Isn’t his only role in the simulation to make rice pudding in the morning? He’ll have to be deleted if he neglects to fulfill his responsibilities!”

“Don’t take too long out here, now, you’ll catch cold,” Kokichi’s mom tosses over her shoulder, ignoring what Kokichi said altogether and disappearing into the house. The door closes lightly behind her and there’s a moment of silence before Maki turns to look at the short teen, brow furrowing in confusion rather than anger for once.

“What was that?” She asks, then feels guilty for sounding cross. “You just lied to your mom.”

“Big whoop, I lie to everyone.” Kokichi rolls his eyes, but noticeably avoids eye contact. “You don’t have anywhere to be today and tomorrow, right? It’s super lame to just go back to school and spend the holidays with Iruma and Shinguji, of all people, so you should just come in and spend some time with my subor- uh,” Kokichi pauses. “My friends. And my parents. My aunt and uncle couldn’t come this year because they’re losers so we even have a guest bedroom open if you don’t wanna sleep on the floor of my room like the cool kids.”

“...you don’t like me, though.” Maki points out. “We’re not exactly friends. Why are you inviting me to spend the holidays with your friends and family?”   
  


“I dunno, it’s Christmas?” Kokichi frowns. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still afraid for my life whenever you’re in the room, but, y’know, you, looked kinda sad when I stepped out of the house and saw you sitting there.” He shrugs. “Plus, we’re all going to help out at the holiday food drive tomorrow and we could use extra hands.”

“That doesn’t sound very evil.” Maki can’t help remarking, mostly just to ignore the fact that he’s invited her inside. And that his mother told them both to come inside.

“It’s all a ruse, nishishi,” Kokichi’s expression shifts almost immediately, a familiar grin appearing on his face. “To trick you and the rest of the world into letting your guards down and trusting me so I can take over as an evil dictator.”  _ With required tea breaks,  _ Maki thinks, if what Shuichi told her and Kaito about the time he and Kokichi spent together is correct. “Anyway, I’m cold now, so we’re going in.” Without waiting for her to respond, the purple-haired teen turns and starts walking towards the house, hands swinging at his sides.

As much as Maki is inclined to distrust Kokichi, there’s a very strong part of her that is urging her to go after him. It’s a strange feeling, especially as far as the supreme leader is concerned. He’s a liar and a thief and a troublemaker. But it seems as though he has a pretty normal home life. A good one, even, based on how comfortably he interacted with his mom, and the way he and her spoke about his friends. This is a nice neighbourhood, too. One that Maki would’ve loved to grow up in. Kokichi’s house isn’t too big, but it looks nice, and it’s decorated with Christmas lights. Through the windows, where the curtains are partially drawn, she can see a tall man with a similar smile to Kokichi’s stirring a pot over a stove. It must be his father. He’s talking amiably over his shoulder, perhaps with the friend Kokichi’s mother mentioned, Umeko, or something.

They’re not  _ friends,  _ Maki knows that, it’s just- well, it’s so cold outside, and she feels far too tired to make the trip back to Hope’s Peak right now. She shouldn’t stay the night at Kokichi’s place, as she’s been invited to do, but there’s no harm in going inside right now, at least for a while. So she sighs and follows him, sliding her hands into her pockets.

“I’m not staying over.” She tells him, just for the record. “I’ll be out of your hair soon, after I’ve warmed up a little bit.”

“Yeah, okay,” Kokichi smiles at her, a weird lopsided expression she’s never seen on his face before. Perhaps being at home is bringing out a different side of him. He’s certainly never like this at Hope’s Peak. It’s not unpleasant, though. Quite the contrary. “Whenever you wanna leave, you’re welcome to. Just let me know and I’ll come up with something to tell my mom.”

Maki nods, grateful that he’s not being weird about this for some reason. Her other friends, except maybe Shuichi, would definitely insist that she stay the whole time. (Other friends. As though Kokichi is one of her friends.) They cross over the threshold into the house and Maki finds herself greeted with a face of warm, sweet smelling air and the sound of laughter and chatting from further down the hall. Kokichi locks the door and steps into a pair of indoor slippers, kicking a spare pair over at her before he moves into the house.

Shrugging off her backpack and her coat, Maki takes off her own boots and follows him, wondering where he’s heading. When she steps into the dining room, though, she’s not expecting for Kokichi’s mother to come up to her with a blanket and a steaming mug of hot cocoa, saying something about how it would be terrible if she was sick on Christmas, nor is she expecting Kokichi’s friend Umeko (who has dusty brown pigtails and wide, inquisitive eyes) to grin and introduce herself as though they’re old friends, but it happens anyway, and before she knows it Maki is sitting down at the kitchen table and watching Kokichi’s dad make rice pudding while Umeko and Kokichi trade reindeer puns over coffee.

It’s a weirdly comfortable atmosphere considering that Maki doesn’t know any of these people except for Kokichi. She doesn’t hate it at all. It’s unfamiliar to her, the warmth of it all, especially when more of Kokichi’s friends wake up and emerge from downstairs, but she can’t find it in her to call any of it annoying. The hot chocolate is warm and sweet and rich, spreading through her chest like a cloud. It all feels so pleasant.

Suffice to say that she doesn’t end up leaving like she said that she would.

**Author's Note:**

> this fandom generally accepts that Kokichi's parents are either dead or not in the picture for some reason and while I'll usually just use that hc for my works I really like the idea that his parents are normal ass people and everyone is DICE is just like, the kids in his neighbourhood who he grew up with and started a little pranking group with and then maintained those friendships throughout high school. I dunno, I just, Kokichi deserves to have parents, okay?
> 
> anyway. hh. I really want Maki and Kokichi to be,, friends.
> 
> this felt sloppy but y'know it's whatever I should be working on The Best Lies rn and I'm not so //shrugs
> 
> hope y'all enjoyed!! I know it isn't Christmas or even that time of year yet but I wanted to write this anyway so you'll have to deal with it.


End file.
